Tidal motor



Nov. 1, 1932. n

A; T. SCHILLER 1,885,866

TIDAL MOTOR Filed Aug. 23. 193C 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

s m Lm l INVENTOR BY A/bew T SMH/@f1 @A TTORNEY NOV. l, 1932. A T SCHILLER TIDAL MOTOR Filed Aug. 25, 193C 4 Sheets-Sheet IN VEN TOR yf ATToRNEY NOV. 1, 1932. A, T SCH|LLER 1,885,866

TIDAL MOTOR Filed Aug. 23. 1930 `4 Sheets-Sheet 4 .m H T N m m ,m V T u m S m T Unoe mice* ecem o O o o www nZmZ W a :5m mme@ Q a xm, W Umlage mxcg m Dee H o o .--i mmm Uwrm mEme O O :NH W Q3 mex-CDJ .q OCD N INAMI linnn .h .h hun n2@ Z 6&0@ New L@ n: @E2 w @c2 www mm H.. m www nood 62 En 8:: 2.8m ,hmm mw, L@ @En o, Ume m/ mused une o O WMM @qm2 mvoo wei 2E? faim. e202 mme@ w w uhH L@ noie 0+ UmemEL mxcg u eco o O ---i mmm N use 92.58.@ mme@ .O 9 O LNH Umme.. mgcev ncemnn me: Hh- HH ...lh -HW WMM Q m2 2E; 6o. E 22 msmom wom .www .www L@ name2?. miga m UCOH UCC ..|..m HT... HO... HH .Mmmm OOOJH. w28. Q5 E memo@ .HH L@ Patented Nov. 1, 1932 -l y l l v l uNiTED STATES Parr ALBERT T. scniLLER, or WALIQA WALLA, WAsninemoN TIDAL Moron` Appiicatin sied August as, '1930'. sensi N9. 477,212."

This invention relates to tidal motors andv the housing and a side elevationy of one of has an one of its `objects to provide a Inotorthe gates of the chambers; Y thatwill operate through the medium of the Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a buoyant rise and fall of tidal water. l body assembled; and

'5 VAnother object of the invention is to pro- 1 Fig. is a vgraph showing the operating 55' Y vide a tidal motor that is flexible in that its periods of a cluster of four units.

power may be in-creased to an indefinite Having reference to the drawings like amount-by p the addition of operating units. numerals refer tolike parts throughout the A further object of the invention is to several views and the numeral l refers to l provide Va tidal motor that by increasing itsy the housing which housing contains atidal 60 units may decrease the time interval bebasin consisting of a chamber 3 containing tween each action in the respective units, gates 4 and provided with a lower story 5 even until the frequency of'actionY would pro# the ceiling 6 of which provides a floor 7 for vide practically a source of constant power. an upper story 8, which upper story may convA further objectV of the invention is to tain the necessarymachinery) to be operated 65 provide a tidal YmotorV that is adapted to supby buoyant bodies l0, which 'in turn are opV ply practically unlimited volume of air or @rated in the said chambers 3. water under pressure. The housing 1' may include anoflice struc- A further object of the invention is to ture llif desired. l

provide atidal motor whose principle makesy The purpose of the above Complete de- 79. it adapted for use regardless of the height SClptOn of the housing 1 is to portray the of the flood tide, l' j general adaptability of the device to present A fui-ther object of the invention is t0 day and ideal construction ;y the gates 4 being provide a tidal motor that will operate at positioned t0 face the tide l2; the lower "the time periods of the change of tide and SOIy 5 of 'the structure being raised only 75 I at other periods in regular cycles. to the height of maximum' flood tide; the A further object of the invention is to pro- Upper Story 8 being above and out ofthe vide a 'tidal motor that is to Obtain power' reach of breaking waves; and the convenience by sustaining the .level of the flood or ebb Oia-I1 OHCB S'LulllCtule l1 in a position con- "tides past the'natural period of time, in a VGHBII tothe Shore lille 13.

separate body of water, for repeated use be` With the-housing so constructed, and potween tides, Y' v i siti'oned with respect to tidal water, the With these other objects in view references lOVlf'el 'Story 5 Wlll PTOYlFle the tllal baslll 2 is now had with the accompanying drawings WlllCll 'baSlH may be divided and subdivided 5in which to provide.. a multiplicity of the'chambers Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross section of 3 if desreflthe number Ofphambirs Obvious'. the device showing a housing and tidal basin 1y dfipndmg on the qua'ntltv of all' 01' Water in section, and containing four units, the Orlyllke eigectfreqmredifor thelwork munits being shown in alternate stages of th o? t. Purgpose Ofbopll'atmg the delle@ 90 y ...oanraaan...trattarsi Fig. 2 isa transverse cross section of the housing showingits Position with respect elux thjremf lom Sm? tldalwalier the V to the tide at abbr gr es may e o e usua construction, or u Fur 3 y .d l f h as shown, and these `gates will have an up- W 4" llc' 1s a Sl e e @ml/lon 0 l' e Clflmlllllg waidly extending gate shaft 14, provided 99 means adlpted t0 Secure the bollyallt bOClleS preferably' with an operating lever l5 situated` botllat lllgll and lOW level 0l Water Ol Te# conveniently on the second iloor of the housilease at proper intervals of time; 1 u ing, in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of said clamp; f l/Vhile this ymanner of location and assembly l Fig. 5 shows a fragment of the wall of i of the gates is suitable for the work intended OOV lasciasse*V cessively, when the cycle of operation will be completed.

Y While four chambers constitute the basin in the drawings presented herewith obviously a bank of two chambers can be utilized tol of operation will be in proportion to the num-2 ber of chambers.

To accomplish the securement and release of the buoyant bodies for this purposeV eachv buoyant body is provided with an upwardly extending shaft 27, projecting through the ceiling 6 of the chamber 8, to pass through a clamping means 28, which clamping means consists preferably of two oppositely` positioned jaws 29 secured on the said shaft 27 at diametrically and oppositely positioned points of the shaft, securement being by means of a yoke, or collar 30, surrounding said shaft and jaws, while a screw 31 threadedly engagingy the vsaid collar is provided to force the jaws together to securely clamp the said shaft at a pre-determined height, the operation of this clamp being typical, or as indicated in Figs. 3 and fi, in which figures a hand wheel 32 will be provided to operate said threaded member, operating through the medium of the bevel gears 33 shown.

By this means it is plainly evident that the action of the body 10 may be positively controlled, by securing or releasing the said clamps respectively, and at the predetermined or required time period, and that by performing this operation alternately, and by the proper manipulation of the gates, the

. proper action of the various buoyant bodies 'to give a uniform action will obtain.

To obtain this uniform action the intermittent action of the buoyant bodies must ,be converted to a steady action, and for this purpose a. pump 34 is provided, which pump consists of the usual cylinder 35 having longitudinal and vertical dimensions approximating the height of tide, or more particularly equalling the movement of a piston 36 with the said shaft, the said shaft 27 now being utilized as a piston rod and secured A thereon for engagement or operation with the said cylinder.

The cylinder is provided at its upper and lower ends with check valves 37 providing for the inlet of air drawn into said cylinder by the reciprocating action of the piston.

Other check valves, as at 38 permit of the expulsion of the air from the cylinder to a main pipe line 39 and this pipe line communicates with a storage tank 40 positioned conveniently to receive the air with a pressure provided by said pump and according to the impetuous actionfof said buoyant bodies.

Obviously water be forced. through pump Yinstead ofair, as above mentioned, andv` if Ydesired-or advisable.

i. In useand assuming that ythe tide v12 at its flood, the gates'ofthe chamberfwilly be openedvand the chamberfilled as Vrapidly as the sizeof the` gate will'permit, and immediatelyfupon filling Nos. l and 3 of the buoyant bodies will be released by: thev clamp l(obv-i-V ouslysuccessively) and this action will operate the respective pumps connected therewith to force the volume of air contained within thercylinders of said pumps into the storage tank. Y

Owing tothe buoyancy of this buoyant body it will remain at the top ofthe chamber until `it can-be secured by the operator by means of said clamp. Y f f Three hours later (as shown) Nos. 2vand 3 p. buoyant bodies .are released for likeflotation and securement. n

Three hours later at ebbtlde, orl at any time between the completion of ythe ascenty of Nos. 2 and ll at neap tide, thegateswill be opened to permit-theegress of the Water contained in said chambers, .and-assoon as this is accomplished the gates are closed when Nos. 2 and 4 will be permitted to drop to the bumpers below, and hence bygravity. Y

The weight of the vbuoyant bodies provide asimilar result inl descentto that of ascent,

and continuing three hours later Nos, l and 3 bodies are permitted. to drop, and-at the securement of all bodies by the said clamp the Igates willL be opened andthe chambers permitted to fill by ingress of the tidal waters in the same manner as before'described.l

These actions' are intermittent and would be in a general wayunsatisfactory to provide power and hence the storage tank which kis gradually `being filled, as above described, will give a potential power that is uniform, steady and constant, and this power may be conveyed to its destination for use by any suitable means not shown.

By this means the basin is filled at, and by the water of, the flood tide; it is emptied at ebb tide; it is maintained in these respective conditions during the respective ebbing and flooding periods of time; and, by the reciprocatory movement of the tanks through the water in one direction, and unrest-rictedly through the void in the other direction a `cycle of maximum energy is obtained for power.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

l. In a tidal motor, a basin of water prountil iood tide, buoyant'bodies in said basin, means to secure said bodies until floodV level occurs andto release saidbodies according to a predeterminedl plan to rise through said 5 water during the sustained flood level, said means being adaptedlto secure-said bodies until ebb level occur's'in the basin, andto releasejsaid bodies accordingto the same plan to drop by gravity to the sustained ebb level, 1G to 'provide a cycle ofenergy foreach body during the flood and ebb cycle of'time, and means to communicateand store the energy sopprovided for power. Y, y 2Q In a tidal motor', a method ofobtaining 15 powervfrom the tide consisting ofvlling ay basin at Hood tide; emptying the basin kat ebbtide; maintaining the respective full and empty conditions of the basin during the respective ebbing and flooding periods of time; 23 utilizing the filled condition of the basin toV move a body by flotation through the water; and utilizing the empty condition of thel basin to permit the unrestricted reciprocar tory movement of the same body by gravity 23 through the void, toprovide power thereby. 3. In a tidal motor, a method of obtaining power from the tide consisting of filling a basin at iood tide; emptying the basin at ebb tide; maintaining the respective full and 3G empty conditions of thebasin during the re-' spective ebbing and flooding periods of time; utilizing the filled condition of the basin to move buoyant bodies by flotation through'the water at predetermined divisions of theebb ing period oftime, to provide a halfcycle of energy; and utilizing the empty condition ofthe basin to unrestrictedly move the same bodies by gravity at corresponding divisions the iooding period of time, to complete the cycle of energy, to provide power by the reciprocatory movement of said bodies.

lIn testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

ALBERT T. SCHILLER.

Nov. 1, 1932. w. E. SHARKEY TAPE CUTTER Filed Feb. 9, 1951 s sheets-sheet #WEA/TUR, byw. E. HARKEY h/S TTPNEY 

